Tall Building Criteria and Loading

Book excerpt: Prepared by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat of ASCE. This report examines the loads to which tall buildings are subjected so that engineers can precisely define the related structural elements that are necessary before translating a client's needs into a safe design. The report explores five different classes of loads?gravity loads and temperature affects, earthquake loads, wind loading and wind effects, fire, and accidental loads?as well as quality control and overall safety considerations.ØSteel buildings, which hold the record for height, tax the designer's ingenuity to provide adequate resistance to lateral loading. Concrete buildings are both more numerous and widely distributed, and for them vertical gravity loads may be the chief problem. Both steel and concrete buildings and lateral and vertical loads are addressed. Other subjects covered include: dead, live, cyclic snow, construction, and combined loads; code requirements; meteorological and environmental factors in design; firefighting provisions; and modeling. Contributions came from more than 800 contributors, all international and professional and heavily representing design and industrial firms. Condensed references follow each chapter, and a glossary is included.